davidinark wrote on 2021-02-10, 01:12:

I have a PEXHDCAP2 running on Windows 10 (19041.804). I am trying to use OBS to capture the VGA signal from two different thin c […]
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I have a PEXHDCAP2 running on Windows 10 (19041.804). I am trying to use OBS to capture the VGA signal from two different thin clients (Wyse Cx0 and HP t5710). I am running the VGA into the DVI adapter and have the settings in OBS configured in the screenshots attached to this post. As you can see, the output is purple for raw text and it constantly loses sync with the VGA signal. For good measure, I split the signal to a VGA monitor, which shows everything just fine.

To even get a signal, I had to set the bandwidth to 175% (second screenshot) and the EQ to 15~20 meters (again, second screenshot). I added a 4-way powered VGA splitter, hoping the boosted output would help. It does not. FWIW, it captures HDMI from a pi ZeroW with no issue. Also, converting VGA to HDMI provides NO signal from the thin clients.

I assume the thin clients aren't putting enough power out to the capture card, perhaps?

Anyone have suggestions for the PEXHDCAP2 settings in OBS?

DOS text mode is 720x400@70Hz when using VGA . Does the PEXHDCAP2 support that ? Your screen captures indicate the PEXHDCAP2 thinks it's receiving 640x480 .

EDIT : Try setting one of those systems to output 640x480@60Hz , I bet the PEXHDCAP2 will work fine with that . Before you ask, VGA's 256 color mode is 640x400@70Hz (line doubled from 320x200@70Hz by the VGA card itself), so if 720x400@70Hz text mode does not work, it is extremely likely that VGA's 256 color mode won't either .

Ah! Okay, after some more testing based on your reply, the culprit is definitely the DOS 640x480 causing the issue. Ran Duke3d in VESA 640x480 and though it did better, it was still stuttering badly. When I tried 800x600 VESA, it took a few moments for things to settle down, but once they did, it rocked along. So, I am going to assume that the capture card is having issues with various DOS modes. That's a bummer. But, at least I have a baseline to work with. Thanks!

davidinark wrote on 2021-02-10, 02:01:

Ah! Okay, after some more testing based on your reply, the culprit is definitely the DOS 640x480 causing the issue. Ran Duke3d in VESA 640x480 and though it did better, it was still stuttering badly. When I tried 800x600 VESA, it took a few moments for things to settle down, but once they did, it rocked along. So, I am going to assume that the capture card is having issues with various DOS modes. That's a bummer. But, at least I have a baseline to work with. Thanks!

Happy to help .

If you want a card that will work for pretty much anything than can come out of a VGA/SVGA card, the Datapath E1S is pretty much the gold standard for VGA and DVI capture . It can often be found used for less than 100 $US on a certain auction site .

EDIT : See this thread for more info about the E1S VGA Capture Thread

your card seems to be set to DVI capture and not VGA in the screenshots?

otherwise try an older driver maybe, I'm using the card to capture DOS text mode just fine in full RGB, but I couldn't get it to run on a newer driver so I reverted back to 1.1.0.142 and that one works fine.
you shouldn't have to set anything manually really, the card should autodetect the VGA signal, but you get better results setting the resolution 1:1 manually and might have to shift the image around a bit.

Yeah, the capture card ONLY has a DVI connector. It came with a VGA adapter, and HDMI adapter and a component/composite breakout cable thing. FWIW, Win98 and Win8.1 both played fine through OBS. I played with the VGA settings in the software and they made no difference. Thanks for the heads up on the E1S. I will poke around and check that one out. I will definitely try rolling back to the 142 driver to see if I can get it work.

EDIT: Er, spoke too soon. Having trouble finding the 142 driver. Any chance you have a resource for that? Thanks!

IMHO, we could really use a sticky or a Vogons wiki entry regarding VGA/DVI/HDMI capture card capabilities/issues .

That the PEXHDCAP2 actually can do 70Hz with specific drivers is practically undocumented on the Internet, AFAICT .

it's DVI-I so it also carries VGA (hence the adapter), you're supposed to select VGA as source if that's what you have connected (or leave it on auto if that works)
it's a bit finnicky but does very nice pixel perfect capture in full RGB when set up correctly.

I can upload the driver tomorrow (had a hard time finding them myself) and post my current settings.

@darry I've posted about it in the VGA capture thread before ^^

edit: oh sorry, I have a PEXHDCAP60l not a PEXHDCAP2 ... I misread that 🙁

imi wrote on 2021-02-10, 02:37:

it's DVI-I so it also carries VGA (hence the adapter), you're supposed to select VGA as source if that's what you have connected […]
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it's DVI-I so it also carries VGA (hence the adapter), you're supposed to select VGA as source if that's what you have connected (or leave it on auto if that works)
it's a bit finnicky but does very nice pixel perfect capture in full RGB when set up correctly.

I can upload the driver tomorrow (had a hard time finding them myself) and post my current settings.

@darry I've posted about it in the VGA capture thread before ^^

@imi It is great that you posted about it, but considering the fact that the VGA capture thread is 53 pages long and spans over a decade at this point, it is not all that practical for someone to go through it looking for information. I almost felt guilty about referring OP to it without referencing specific posts .

I am not volunteering for this at this point, but all the very useful and often unique information in that thread should be synthesized into a summarized page in tabular form, IMHO .

that is true, also sorry for mixing up the two cards, I made it even more confusing now x3

so yeah idk about the specific differences between the PEXHDCAP2 and PEXHDCAP60l

I'll try the 142 driver if you're willing to throw it up somewhere and we'll see. 😀

I tried Auto and I tried VGA, but neither of them worked. I did manage to somehow get white-ish text, but it keeps losing signal and/or freezing. I assume this is some kind of syncing issue. I looked through the vidcap thread as best I could, but I couldn't find anything that seemed to apply to my situation. I gave up after sifting through about half the pages.

Thanks for everyone's help thus far! Learning lots here!

EDIT: I found the 1.1.0.142 drivers and they are, indeed, only for the PEXHDCAP260L. When I tried to force Win10 to use the driver, it balked and complained about an errant API...

hmm yeah unfortunately, the PEXHDCAP2 is a newer card apparently, both cards seem to use the same image processing chip though, so I don't see why this card wouldn't support the same modes...
it seems to be weird though that it doesn't work when set to VGA but does when it's set to DVI even though it is an analog signal?

Well, I managed to find a slight solution. I bought a slew of VGA-to-HDMI adapters and found one that eventually passes the signal through after a few screen flickers. So bizarre. I probably should have just spent a few hundred on an actual upscaler/downscaler and called it good. haha!

davidinark wrote on 2021-03-08, 17:37:

Well, I managed to find a slight solution. I bought a slew of VGA-to-HDMI adapters and found one that eventually passes the signal through after a few screen flickers. So bizarre. I probably should have just spent a few hundred on an actual upscaler/downscaler and called it good. haha!

Glad you found a working solution .

That said, perfectly suitable used sub 100$ scalers do exist . Some of the better ones include the Extron RGB-DVI 300 and Extron RGB-HDMI 300 ( https://www.extron.com/product/rgbdvi300 https://www.extron.com/product/rgbhdmi300 ) and their audio supporting "A" variants . These were pro grade products that are now considered obsolete, which explains their low prices .

EDIT : They accept and process 70Hz input, but always output everything at 60Hz.